College Football 2016 season

[Donegeal]

And what? Drop #4 Washington, who wupped ass in their conferance championship game? And put in who? #5 Michigan? The team that finished 4th in the Big 10? Or Maybe put in the Big 10 Champ, Penn State, who got trounced by aforementioned Michigan? No, it'll be Alabama, tOSU, Clemson and Washington. Alabama and tOSU will win and play in the NCG in what I hope is a classic slobber-knocker.

[rah]

Then no other team has any incentive to schedule tough games. We'll see. Winning the big 10 will trump a weak schedule for Washington.

[-Jrabbit]

Personally, I want to see Western Michigan get a shot.

[Boris Godunov]

Of the current top 4, Clemson has the worst loss. Given the trajectory of both Louisville and FSU's seasons after the Tigers played them, those wins don't look quite so good. I think Clemson is probably the weakest of the top 4 teams.

But if any of them gets screwed, of course it will be Washington. The committee already telegraphed that by going on and on about how the distance between them and 2-loss Michigan was sub-atomic. That was before the Pac-12 champ game where they blew out #10 Colorado, of course. And I would laugh, laugh, laugh if they did that to the Huskies, despite how it would again show the anti-West Coast bias.

Still, the committee hasn't put a 2-loss team into the playoff yet, and I'm guessing they won't now. They might shuffle tOSU down since they didn't win their conference and have that 13th game, but the top 4 seem baked-in.

I'd guess it will be:

1 Alabama
2 Clemson
3 Washington
4 Ohio State

[SlowwHand]

Go Clemson.

[Boris Godunov]

Close. Washington gets the honor of being crushed by Alabama first I guess.

Seems to me they wanted an Alabama-Ohio State final. It's all about the fan bases and viewership at this point.

[Ben Kenobi]

Alabama and Clemson are givens. Given that they have two losses, it'll be Ohio State and Oklahoma. Sorry Washington, nobody cares about the PAC.

I see having a 'championship' really matters eh?

[Boris Godunov]

Ok here's the bowl schedule so far:

Dec. 17: Gildan New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico vs. UTSA

Dec. 17: Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl: San Diego State vs. Houston
Dec. 17: AutoNation Cure Bowl: UCF vs. Arkansas State
Dec. 17: Raycom Media Camellia Bowl: Toledo vs. Appalachian State
Dec. 17: R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
Dec. 19: Miami Beach Bowl: Tulsa vs. Central Michigan
Dec. 20: Marmot Boca Raton Bowl: Memphis vs. Western Kentucky
Dec. 21: San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: Wyoming vs. BYU
Dec. 22: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Idaho vs. Colorado State
Dec. 23: Popeyes Bahamas Bowl: Eastern Michigan vs. Old Dominion
Dec. 23: Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Navy vs. Louisiana Tech
Dec. 23: Dollar General Bowl: Ohio vs. Troy
Dec. 24: Hawaii Bowl: Middle Tennessee State vs. Hawaii
Dec. 26: St. Petersburg Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Miami, Ohio
Dec. 26: Quick Lane Bowl: Boston College vs. Maryland
Dec. 26: Camping World Independence Bowl: N.C. State vs. Vanderbilt
Dec. 27: Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl: Army vs. North Texas
Dec. 27: Military Bowl: Temple vs. Wake Forest
Dec. 27: National Funding Holiday Bowl: Minnesota
Dec. 27: Motel 6 Cactus Bowl: Baylor vs. Boise State
Dec. 28: New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. Northwestern
Dec. 28: Russell Athletic Bowl: Miami, Fla. vs. West Virginia
Dec. 28: Foster Farms Bowl: Indiana
Dec. 28: AdvoCare V1000 Texas Bowl: Kansas State vs. Texas A&M
Dec. 29: Birmingham Bowl: South Florida vs. South Carolina
Dec. 29: Belk Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Arkansas
Dec. 29: Valero Alamo Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Colorado
Dec. 30: AutoZone Liberty Bowl: TCU vs. Georgia
Dec. 30: Hyundai Sun Bowl: North Carolina
Dec. 30: Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: Nebraska vs. Tennessee
Dec. 30: Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl: Air Force vs. South Alabama
Dec. 31: Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl: Louisville vs. LSU
Dec. 31: TaxSlayer Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Kentucky
Jan. 2: Outback Bowl: Florida vs. Iowa
New Year’s Day Six

Dec. 30: Capital One Orange Bowl: Michigan vs. Florida State, 8 p.m.
Jan. 2: Goodyear Cotton Bowl: Western Michigan vs. Wisconsin, 1 p.m.
Jan. 2: Rose Bowl Game: USC vs. Penn State, 5 p.m.
Jan. 2: Allstate Sugar Bowl: Auburn vs. Oklahoma, 8:30 p.m.
Dec. 31: Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (Playoff semifinal): Alabama vs. Washington, 3 p.m.
Dec. 31: PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (Playoff semifinal): Ohio State vs. Clemson, 7 p.m.
Jan. 9: College Football Championship Game: TBD

Guess they need to decide on a couple 5-7 teams to invite to fill the remaining open slots.

I think it will be Alabama-Ohio State in the final. I just don't see Washington beating Alabama, given how their sole loss was against USC, whom Alabama crushed early on.

Not getting much of a "Instant Classic" vibe from most of the matchups, except maybe USC-Penn State in the Rose Bowl. Maybe the Auburn/Oklahoma match up, but have to think the Sooners will have the edge there. The best Big 12 team against the 4th best SEC team? Sure.

EDIT: No Stanford on the list. I'm guessing they were invited to the Sun Bowl against UNC?

EDIT 2: nm, must be incomplete list. Also missing Utah and Washington State.

[Ben Kenobi]

LOL Baylor vs Boise! LMFAO.

[Drizzy Drake]

Bring back Scott Frost!

Back off. He's ours when Mike Riley gets fired.

[Drizzy Drake]

I see having a 'championship' really matters eh?

You didn't really think the playoff was going to solve anything, did you?

[Boris Godunov]

Back off. He's ours when Mike Riley gets fired.

Riley has done decently though?

And actually now I'm kinda sold on the Greg Schiano possibility. Rumors are that he's the top pick, and I like what I see.

[Drizzy Drake]

Riley has done decently though?

Yes, and I hope he sticks around for a while. College football has become a disgustingly cutthroat business, however, so I wouldn't be surprised if he gets fired for only winning 9 games next season.

[Boris Godunov]

Yes, and I hope he sticks around for a while. College football has become a disgustingly cutthroat business, however, so I wouldn't be surprised if he gets fired for only winning 9 games next season.

Pffft, Nebraska wouldn't fire an HC who consistently won 9+ games a seas... oh.

[Ben Kenobi]

You didn't really think the playoff was going to solve anything, did you?

TCU never had a chance to make it before. Now - nothing has changed. Although would be great to have A+M and Mizzou back and divisions again.

Texas/TCU/Baylor/A+M/Texas Tech/West Virginia

Okie/Okie Lite/Kansas/Kansas St/Iowa St/Mizzou

Those be some damn fine divisions. That South division is murder.

What could have been?